Sarajevo, 4 May 2020
The results of the 2019 International Survey on Budget Transparency (Open Budget Survey) again show the work of Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the SAI) to be the most significant positive factor contributing to the openness and oversight of the budget of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina reached the lowest transparency score (33/100) since 2010, placing it among the group of countries that ensure minimal budget openness (out of 117 countries surveyed, BiH ranked only 84th), its SAI and its reports were again awarded the highest scores for all three pillars of public budget accountability: transparency, oversight and public participation.
Thus, the Audit Report on Budget Execution, as one of the key budget documents, on a scale from 0 to 100, has a score of 89 with regard to the comprehensiveness and usefulness of the information published therein. In terms of public participation, the SAI was awarded the highest score (33) as compared to the executive and legislature at the level of BiH. The SAI’s oversight of the budget was assessed as adequate, with a score of 89/100.
In terms of parameters related to the work Supreme Audit Institutions, BiH, along with Slovenia and Croatia, performs better than other countries within the region. BiH leads the countries of the region when it comes to the comprehensiveness and usefulness of information published in the audit report on budget execution. BiH and Croatia ensure the highest level of audit oversight, while, along with Slovenia, BiH is the only country in the region to ensure public participation in audit-related decision-making.
The SAI had previously recognized the transparency of the work of the institutions as an important element contributing to the efficient, economical and effective use of public funds, and in 2015 conducted a performance audit on this topic. The audit results showed that BiH institutions were not sufficiently transparent, thus negatively affecting the level of trust in their work. However, the last follow-up of the performance audit report, published on 30 April 2020, points to numerous activities undertaken in the area of transparency by the Council of Ministers and relevant institutions. More information on the results of this follow-up is available in the Performance Audit Report available on the SAI’s website: https://bit.ly/2SyXZwT.
The Open Budget Survey is an independent, global, comparative measurement of three pillars of public budget accountability: transparency, oversight and public participation. This survey, in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership, is conducted by expert and civil society organisations in 117 countries around the world and. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is conducted by the CPI Foundation.
More details on the survey, methodology, results and recommendations of the survey can be found on https://www.internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/.
The results for Bosnia and Herzegovina may be downloaded here: https://www.internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/country-results/2019/bosnia-and-herzegovina